Meat

Meat is the muscle tissues of domesticated or wild animal.It includes lamb, mutton, pork, beef, veal and all game.

The meat can be classified as

Red Meat:- Flesh which turns into Reddish color on cooking.Beef.Mutton
White Meat:- Flesh which turns into White color on cooking. e.g Chicken


Composition of Meat

Water:- 75%
Protein:-20 %
Water:- 5% excluding the surface fat.

Due to high percentage of water weight loss and shrinkage of meat is significant problem while cooking meats.

Protein due to application of heat coagulates and releases water hence meat becomes tougher due to high temperatures and longer cooking methods.

Fat is the only source of flavor in meat, fat helps in preventing water loss and give a moist product.

Fat is also embedded as small flakes in muscles tissues known as marbling, marbling helps in tenderizing meat as it melts during cooking, separating the muscles fibers.

Carbohydrates

Some amount of Carbohydrates in meat helps in browning and developing flavor in meats, it is only because of carbohydrates the meat is able to get its characteristic brown color and aroma when it is roasted, braised. etc

Rigor Mortis:- A natural process of stiffening of carcass and muscles due enzymatic action. In Rigor Mortis the Actin and Myosin present in muscles react, resulting into contraction or stiffening of muscles, this effect subsides later on resulting into a more tender product.

Beef require more than 10 days for tenderizing throur Rigor Mortis.
Pork require only a day
Chicken require around 4 hrs
Veal and Lamb doesn't require as the meat is naturally tender and deoesn't have much of connective tissues.

These natural enzymes are

Active at room temperature
Slow under referigeration
Dormant under freezing condition
Destroyed by temperatures above 60 deg centigrates.


The tenderness of meat depends on the connective tissues and protein present in flesh.

The amount of connective tissue increases with age and exercise of the animal.Due to age the collagen become more insoluble and with increased exercise the collagen toughens.
There are two types of connective tissues present in meat Collagen( white) and Elastin (yellow).

Muscles fibers are composed of muscle fibers bound together in bundles with the help of connective tissues. each muscle fiber is also covered with connective tissue.

Knowing the amount of connective tissue in the piece of meat and the age of animal helps in choosing a suitable method of cooking.

Tenderizing of meat can be done by any of three methods

Mechanical Method

Grinding, mincing and chopping

Enzymatic Method

Papain from Raw Papya
Ficin from Figs
Brometin from Pineapple

some times these tenderizing enzymes are injected in the animals before slaughter.

Moist Heat

Meat can be tenderized even by moist and slow heating methods, due to moist heat the connective tissue get broken down into Gelatin and water.


Young animals have naturally tender meat as the muscle fibers are at growing stage, the connective tissues are less and more soluble.And the level of exercise is also very low.

as the animal grows the muscle fibers increases and the amount of connective tissues increases due to growth and exercise. The collagen also become more insoluble.

Amount of elastin grows with age and can't be tenderized, it can be removed or cut mechanically through methods like Cutting, mincing etc